Appearance

Appearance controls visual material properties of solid bodies and surfaces, including color, metalness, roughness, and opacity. Use Appearance to distinguish parts in multi-body models, communicate material intent, create realistic renderings, and improve visibility during complex modeling operations.

Options

Objects

Select the solid bodies or surfaces you want to change the appearance of. You can apply appearance to:

• Individual solid bodies
• Surface bodies
• Tagged geometry groups
• Multiple items at once

Note: Appearance only works on solids and surfaces, not on sketches or paths.

Color

The base color for your object. You can specify this using:

• Hex codes: #FF5733, #1E90FF
• RGB values: rgb(255, 87, 51)
• Named colors: red, blue, forestgreen

Metalness

How metallic the material looks (0.0 to 1.0):

• 0.0 - Non-metallic (plastic, rubber, ceramic, painted surfaces)
• 1.0 - Fully metallic (aluminum, steel, brass, chrome)
• In between - Mixed or weathered metals

This affects how light reflects colored highlights on the surface.

Roughness

How smooth or rough the surface appears (0.0 to 1.0):

• 0.0 - Mirror-smooth (polished chrome, glass)
• 0.1-0.3 - Brushed or satin finish (brushed aluminum)
• 0.4-0.6 - Moderate (matte plastic, painted steel)
• 0.7-1.0 - Very rough (unfinished wood, concrete, rubber)

Lower values give sharp reflections; higher values give diffuse, soft reflections.

Opacity

How transparent the material is (0.0 to 1.0):

• 1.0 - Fully opaque (solid, can't see through)
• 0.5 - Semi-transparent (glass, translucent plastic)
• 0.0 - Fully transparent (invisible, but geometry still exists)

Useful for seeing inside models or creating glass effects.

Design Applications

Multi-Body Organization

Use color to visually distinguish components in complex assemblies:

• Color-code structural vs. cosmetic components
• Differentiate mounting hardware by material (steel vs. aluminum vs. plastic)
• Highlight critical features for design review

Material Intent Communication

Represent intended manufacturing materials:

• Aluminum: metalness=1.0, roughness=0.2, color=#C0C0C0 (brushed)
• Anodized aluminum: metalness=1.0, roughness=0.3, color=#FF6600 (orange)
• ABS plastic: metalness=0.0, roughness=0.5, color=#FFFFFF
• Polished steel: metalness=1.0, roughness=0.1, color=#E0E0E0

Assembly Visualization

Improve clarity in complex models:

• Use opacity=0.3 on enclosures to view internal mechanisms
• Color transparent components to show assemblies without hiding geometry
• Distinguish mating surfaces with contrasting colors

Design Review and Rendering

Prepare models for presentations:

• Apply realistic materials for photorealistic rendering
• Use appearance to match corporate color schemes
• Create exploded views with color-coded subassemblies

PBR Material Workflow

Zoo Design Studio uses Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) principles for appearance. The metalness/roughness workflow ensures:

• Energy conservation (materials don't reflect more light than they receive)
• Predictable behavior under different lighting conditions
• Compatibility with industry-standard rendering engines

Common PBR Material Presets